PAUL HEERMANS SMITH

Paul Heermans Smith was born on April 22, 1929 in El Paso, Texas, to Forrest Moseley Smith and Harriet Heermans Smith. He attended schools in El Paso, discovering early his lifetime gift of leadership. He attended El Paso High School where he served as Cadet Colonel of the ROTC and President of the Student Body during his senior year.

Paul attended the University of Texas at Austin from the years 1946-1951, earning two degrees, a BBA and an LLB. He was a proud member of Phi Gamma Delta, and was president of the fraternity his last year in Austin. He lived at the Phi Gam house for most of his career at UT, and remained a loyal alumnus for the rest of his life.

In Austin, a longtime friendship with a fellow El Pasoan became much more than that, and he married Anne Bruce in August of 1952. They were married at The Church of St. Clement Episcopal in El Paso, and remained in beautiful love with each other for the next 66 years.

In 1951, after graduation from law school, Paul enlisted in the US Navy, and qualified for Naval Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island. He graduated as an Ensign, and was stationed aboard an aircraft carrier, the USS Philippine Sea, for the last two years of the Korean War. For his last year of active duty, he was assigned to the Fleet Training Center in San Diego, CA where he taught Military Justice. He was joined there by Anne and his firstborn child, Janie.

After his assignment in San Diego, instead of returning to El Paso, he led his family to San Antonio where he joined the law firm of Cox, Patterson & Smith on February 1, 1955. He practiced law with the same firm and its successors until his retirement in 2010. He specialized in oil & gas law and energy- related matters. During his time with the firm, later renamed Cox & Smith, now named Dykema Gossett PLLC, he served as president of the firm for most of the decade of the 1980s.

Paul and Anne joined the First Presbyterian Church of San Antonio in 1958. He loved his church family and he held the offices of Deacon and subsequently as Ruling Elder. He was president of the FPC Foundation from its inception in 1994 until 2015.

Paul considered his family very fortunate to live in the Alamo Heights Independent School District. His three children, Janie, Paul Jr. and Lee (and several grandchildren) went through the schools from Kinder to High School. He was elected to the Alamo Heights School Board in April of 1968. He was re-elected twice, and in his nine years on the Board, he led as its president for four of them.

Paul continued his love of education by having been elected to the Board of Trustees of Trinity University in 1978. He loyally served that Board until 2017 and was Chairman of the Board for three years during the 1990s.

Other institutions that were blessed by Paul's leadership were the YMCA, the Ecumenical Center for Religion and Health, and the San Antonio Medical Foundation; he was a member of their governing boards for many years. He also enjoyed membership in the Texas Cavaliers, the Order of the Alamo and the SA German Club. Paul was generous in sharing his leadership abilities with these and other organizations that served God and the community.

Paul is preceded in death by his wife, Anne B. Smith, both of his parents, and both of his brothers: Forrest M. Smith Jr., and David Madison Smith. He is also preceded in death by his granddaughter, Rebecca Lapham Smith, and by his great granddaughter, Elsa Bishop Schaufele.

He loved his family. His wife and his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren were his chief interests. He carefully prepared an annual Enumeration of the greater Smith family, beginning with his parents, adding descendants and spouses each year, and assigning each one sequentially a family 'number', which number adorned individual t-shirts on many wonderful family vacations such as cruises in the Caribbean and adventures in Colorado.

Next to his wife and family, his church, and education, he loved classical music (especially Requiems), the Longhorns, the Cowboys, and the Spurs.

Paul is survived by his daughter, Janie Smith Worth and her husband James C. Worth; his son Paul H. Smith Jr. and his wife Marie Hall Smith; and his daughter Annie Lee Smith Schaufele and her husband Lou Schaufele III. He is also survived by nine grandchildren and their respective spouses and twenty-two great grandchildren.

The family expresses our deep gratitude for the caregivers who were part of our parents' lives: Diana Peche, Arasely Renteria, Angelica Olvera and Lorie Villareal.

Paul will be honored at a memorial service on Friday, December 17, 2021, at 11:00 a.m. at First Presbyterian Church, 404 N. Alamo St. Rev. Dr. Bob Fuller and Rev. Dr. Ron Scates, officiating.

In lieu of flowers, the family wishes that memorial donations be made to First Presbyterian Church of San Antonio or Trinity University.

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